setzen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German setzen, from Old High German sezzen, from Proto-West Germanic *sattjan. Cognate with Hunsrik setze, English set, Dutch zetten.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛtsən/,

• Audio

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• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: set‧zen

Verb

setzen (weak, third-person singular present setzt, past tense setzte, past participle gesetzt, auxiliary haben or sein)

1. (transitive) to set; to put
2. (reflexive, of a person) to sit down

   sich zur Ruhe setzen ― to retire

   • 1915, Franz Kafka, Der Process, Verlag: Die Schmiede, published 1925, page 5:

     K. wollte sich setzen, aber nun sah er, daß im ganzen Zimmer keine Sitzgelegenheit war, außer dem Sessel beim Fenster.

     K. wanted to sit down, but now he saw that there was no seat in the whole room apart from the armchair at the window.

3. (reflexive, of particles or contents) to settle

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

• “setzen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “setzen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “setzen” in Duden online
• “setzen” in OpenThesaurus.de
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “setzen”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Middle High German setzen, from Old High German sezzen, from Proto-West Germanic *sattjan.

The past participle gesat and obsolete past tense sat (from attested Middle High German satte) may be unshifted relict forms (like tëschen); alternatively the cluster /t͡st/, which was rare in Middle High German, may have been assimilated to /tt/. Compare geschwat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzætsen/,

Verb

setzen (third-person singular present setzt, past participle gesat, auxiliary verb hunn)

1. (transitive) to put, to place, to set
2. (transitive) to plant
3. (transitive) to typeset
4. (reflexive) to sit down, to take a seat
5. (reflexive) to settle

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (to plant): planzen

Derived terms